Oracle gets Sun for $7.4 billion, MySQL for $0

Back in the early days of computing, there was no such thing as a "software vendor." Companies like IBM sold hardware/software integrated solutions and, really, software was developed simply to sell the value of the hardware.

This time, Oracle effectively got MySQL for free, as the valuation for Sun almost certainly wasn't raised much by its MySQL asset, acquired in 2008 by Sun for $1 billion.

What Oracle will not want, however, is for its customers to get MySQL for free.

Importantly, Oracle's new "systems" approach gives it the ability to digest a host of open-source projects like MySQL that might otherwise struggle to make money, and monetize them heavily by burying them in hardware "systems." It's a smart move driven by a company that knows that open source as a religion faded, and that open source as a key driver of innovative IT is just beginning.

While I don't expect the U.S. Justice Department or Federal Trade Commission to launch an antitrust action against Oracle relative to MySQL, it's important to note that this acquisition makes Oracle the clear behemoth in databases, past (enterprise) and future (Web).

Ultimately, however, this acquisition is not about MySQL. At least, not yet.

It's about hardware/software systems, primarily, and to the extent that software is involved, it's about Java, as called out by Oracle CEO Larry Ellison. Over time, the MySQL component will become increasingly important, but for now this Sun acquisition gives Oracle exceptional control over integrated solutions for its customers, as well as a software portfolio with massive potential.

The industry just changed. Oracle raised the stakes of the game. The new ante to get into the game is integrated hardware/software systems, and as IBM, Microsoft, and Oracle increasingly demonstrate, open-source software plays an increasingly important role in feeding these systems.